Stamell says the members of the direct class—referring to trade companies that purchased directly from De Beers—should start receiving their checks within 45 to 60 days. But at press time he wasn’t sure when the rest of the checks would be sent.

“We are trying to do everything as quickly as possible,” Stamell says. “But it will take a little time.”

Another plaintiff attorney, Joseph J. Tabacco, Jr., says that the first trade checks should be sent out in June, and the consumer checks will be sent later this summer.

De Beers’ director of communciations David Prager says the company is “very pleased” that the case is just about finished.

“This normalizes business for De Beers in America,” he says. “If you think about the past century, this is a milestone moment.”

Prager says that while nothing will change right away, the completion of the case will allow De Beers a lot more freedom in how it does business in the U.S.

“A lot of the past restrictions we have had previously are now gone,” he says. “It is no secret that it was very difficult for us when we travelled to America. We have clearly not jumped into America with both feet and we have resisted contracting with American companies. When you have normalized business in the States, a lot of those things fall away and you have a lot more opportunities.”

In addition to mandating that De Beers distribute $300 million to direct and indirect purchasers of diamonds, the settlement also mandates that De Beers refrain from engaging in conduct that violates federal and state antitrust laws. The suit charged that De Beers had monopolized the price of diamonds, and conspired to fix, raise, and control diamond prices. De Beers has denied wrongdoing.

More information is available at diamondsclassaction.com, the informational page for the De Beers class action settlement.